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This publication seeks to support policymakers in promoting accessibility at a policy and practical level. It contains information on relevant global and regional mandates that support and promote disability-inclusive development and accessibility, with a view to demonstrate the multi-faceted value of focusing on disability and accessibility policies to achieve broader development goals. Readers will learn about the core concepts of disability and accessibility, and be empowered with knowledge on standards, tools and means of promoting accessibility.

Despite sluggish global growth, economic conditions in the Asia-Pacific region have somewhat stabilized in 2016 on the back of resilient domestic demand and an easing of financial conditions. However, labour market prospects seem weak while income inequality has been on the rise. Going forward, sustaining the region’s dynamism against weak external demand will require parallel progress on both productivity and inclusiveness fronts, supported by proactive fiscal policy and good governance.

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR) is a major annual publication of the Trade, Investment and Innovation Division of United Nations ESCAP. It aims to deepen understanding of trends and developments in trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region; emerging issues in trade, investment and trade facilitation policies, and impacts of these policies on countries' abilities to meet the challenges of achieving inclusive and sustainable development.

In this working paper we develop a comprehensive list of paperless trade measures and provisions in regional trade agreements (RTAs) and examine the extent to which they are featured in various RTAs, including in the TPP and ASEAN agreements. The number of paperless trade measures in RTAs is found to have doubled between 2005-8 and 2013-16 at the global level. Most recent RTAs contain more and deeper provisions than those featured in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Higher temperatures, sea level rise, and extreme weather events linked to climate change are having a major impact on the Asia-Pacific region, harming its economies, natural and physical assets, and compounding developmental challenges, including poverty, food and energy security and health. Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region are geographically vulnerable and highly exposed to the damaging impacts of climate change.

Published since 1986 by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asia-Pacific Population Journal (APPJ) brings out high-quality, evidence-based and forward-looking articles on a wide range of population and development issues in Asia and the Pacific.

This issue of the Asia-Pacific Population Journal contains the following articles:

The present and future of time-use analysis in developing countries. By Maria S. Floro and Elizabeth M. King

This study introduces a new dataset of bilateral value added trade costs for the goods and services sectors, based on a measure derived from the micro-founded gravity model and using data from the OECD-WTO TiVA database. This is the first study to calculate value added trade costs for a set of developed and developing economies, both for the goods and services sectors. Overall, we find that, in the goods sector and in absolute term, international trade costs calculated using value added data are lower than those calculated using gross trade and output data.

The Population Data Sheet, published annually by ESCAP, features a range of key indicators on population dynamics- including population size and growth rates, fertility rate, life expectancy and age structure, at country, subregional and regional levels. It is a useful tool for reference by researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders active in the field of population and development.